This invention relates to electric cable test apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for testing installed multiconductor cables for abnormal conditions such as open conductors, short circuits and misconnections.
Use of complex multiunit electronic apparatus often entails operational interconnection of the units by multiconductor electric cables, such as well-known ribbon cables, often connected in tandem. During the course of installation of such cables, conductors therein may be severed or opened, shorted and/or reversed (i.e., a conductor at one end of the cable is misconnected within the cable is misconnected within the cable or from cable to cable to a conductor other than the one intended). In order to check cables to determine if such defects exist, it was previously necessary to sequentially check each individual conductor of the cable with a volt-ohmmeter or the like. Two persons frequently were required to perform these checks on system installed cables. This prior technique was slow, prone to errors, required extra manpower, and when cable ends were widely separated, communication problems between test personnel were frequent, resulting in confusion and mistakes. This invention comprehends apparatus which performs such tests without these disadvantages and drawbacks.